Advanced Manufacturing & Prototyping Integrated to Unlock Potential (AMP-IT-UP) program participants visit Georgia Tech campus

Monday, April 25, 2016

The Georgia Tech campus proves it stays busy as Advanced Manufacturing & Prototyping Integrated to Unlock Potential (AMP-IT-UP) program participants visited campus as finals week approached.

AMP-IT-UP works close with Carver Middle School in Griffin, Georgia among others to provide an opportunity to engage in design and implementation steps within product development. On April 25, close to 40 8th grade students toured the Complex Rheology And Biomechanics (CRAB) Lab in the School of Physics.

The work of interdisciplinary collaboration, the CRAB Lab builds robotic simulations that mimic organism movement in various systems. Studying the mechanics of snakes, turtle, and even cockroaches can be difficult, so the use of robot replicas are just one way to overcome obstacles.

Students also visited the Invention Studio in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The Studio is a workshop comprised of specialized machinery for students to create their own prototypes. Modelling projects can be flexible and are open ended, giving students a unique designing experience.

Carver Middle School teacher and tour organizer Antoinette Richter selected the labs to visit after considering aligning student interest with the AMP-IT-UP mission. “I choose to take students to the CRAB Lab and Invention Studio so that they could make the connection and experience the design process in the real world.” The tours supplemented classwork, helping draw connections between concepts and applications.

The tours wrapped up with a visit to what is considered the hub of campus, the Georgia Tech Student Center. Amid undergraduates studying or stopping by for a bite to eat, AMP-IT-UP middle schoolers caught a glimpse of campus life. “I really enjoyed the diversity on the GT campus,” Richter adds. “My students were able to see students of their same ethnicity and culture having a successful educational experience.”

More information:

The CRAB Lab is headed by Dr. Daniel Goldman, Associate Professor in the School of Physics and Adjunct Professor in the 3. For more information, visit crablab.gatech.edu.

The Invention Studio is a student-run venture aimed to allow Georgia Tech affiliates access to designing and modeling their own three-dimensional prototypes. For more information, visit inventionstudio.gatech.edu.

AMP-IT-UP is an NSF funded program to provide middle schools courses exploring robotics. From the ground up approach, students can learn planning, building, and implementation along with conceptual understanding for specific utility. For more information, visit ampitup.gatech.edu

Media Contact: 

Will Jimerson
Educational Outreach Coordinator
Center for Education Integrating Science, Math and Computing (CEISMC)
Georgia Institute of Technology
Office: 404-385-4424